Mazda pushing ahead on rotary tech

that will Autocar image shows how Mazda’s brand new rotary-engined car could look

Dedicated development team on Wankel power indicates a long-awaited successor to the RX-8

Mazda is usually pushing ahead with rotary engine development inside clearest sign yet that will the firm still harbours ambitions of bringing back its iconic RX series of sports cars using Wankel technology.

The Japanese company killed off its last rotary-engined sports car, the RX-8, back in 2012 as its motor faced ever-tightening emissions regulations. The firm did build a prototype turbocharged RX-8, although that will car might have failed to meet European requirements too, as well as its further development could not be justified on Japanese sales alone.

However, the Mazda’s president Masamichi Kogai has confirmed at the Frankfurt motor show that will the company still features a dedicated engineering team focused on rotary engine development as well as revealed that will its staff are working “very enthusiastically” towards bringing the technology up to the standards of contemporary piston engines.

that will might require considerable improvements in cold-start characteristics, CO2 emissions as well as torque at low revs, although Kogai reiterated that will Mazda will not bring back rotary power unless the idea can match the standards of different ‘conventional’ engines.

Kogai did not outline a timeline for any return of the RX brand – indeed, he declined to specify precisely why the rotary development team still exists – although the idea’s feasible that will a successor to the RX-8 could appear by 2018, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the original RX-7.

Mazda has also experimented with using rotary engines for different applications beyond being the sole powertrain for a vehicle. the idea has applied for patents using a rotary engine as a range extender on a hybrid system as well as even demonstrated a prototype based on the previous generation of its 2 supermini back in 2013.

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